Age Before Beauty
by Ziva Addy
Summary: Tag to episode 2x4, Age Before Beauty. Both Pete and Myka's perspectives on the convo backstage, because you don't just tell your partner that she's gorgeous if you don't want her. Definite Pyka.
1. Myka

**Just a quick two/threeshot that I had to get out of my head. Tag to 2x4, Age Before Beauty. Pyka, and each of their POV on that convo in the dressing room before Myka walked the runway.**

**Muchos gracias to my beta Procrastinadian :)**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own it. If I did, Pete and Myka would just make out already and Jinxy wouldn't be dead.**

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><p>Myka Bering was nervous. Very nervous. As in, puke up those "extra-five-pounds" nervous. She didn't look like a supermodel in this dress. She looked like she had as a freshman in high school; too-tall, gangly, and out of place. She tried to take a deep breath, but to her dismay it came in shaky and didn't bring any comfort. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her nerves away. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect. Her panic increased, and that niggling little voice in the back of her head refused to shut up.<p>

_**You can't do this. Last time you were up on a stage it was fourth grade. And you couldn't even do it then**__. _It whispered, it's voice dark and sneering. _**You threw up all over the first two rows.**_

_No._ She thought desperately. _No. I can do this. I _need _to do this. People will get hurt If I don't do this._

_**Ha! Even those airhead, bitchy models know that you can't do this. You heard, right?**_ The voice was openly mocking her, tearing apart what little confidence she may have had at her new appearance. _**You have to be able to tear out your **_**soul. **_**Your innermost part, out for all to see. You're so closed off that even your partner doesn't know half of what goes down inside your head.**_

Frantic to keep a hold on herself, Myka got angry. _Now wait a minute, leave my relationship with Pete out of this-_

_**Listen to yourself. "Leave Pete out of this!"**_It sneered. _**You know what's happening. It's Sam all over again. You're falling for him! Remember what happened **_**last**_** time you fell for your partner?**_

_Of course I do!_ She snapped back.

_**Oh really?**_It was snickering softly, and the sound bounced around her skull. _**You remember that you couldn't manage not sleeping with him, never mind saving his life. You remember that?**_

Myka felt tears welling in her eyes. _It's different with Pete! He's not Sam! Nothing's going to happen to him-_

"Hey Myka, are you decent?"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Under normal circumstances, Myka might have smirked.

"Can I come in? You know what? Screw it. I'm coming in."

She closed her eyes again, ready for the inevitable laughter that would come from her childish partner. She was tensed up, braced for it when….nothing.

"Woah."

_Woah? I'm standing here like a fool in $6,000 couture, and all you can say is "Woah?"_

She spun around. "Don't you dare laugh."

Myka was shocked at the intenseness of his gaze as he took in the silken plum dress.

"No…no. I'm so not laughing." His eyes raked up and down her frame once more, and she could feel her cheeks heating up beneath the layers of makeup.

Pete cleared his throat, his eyes darting away. "Listen, I don't want you to go out there. I'm having some wicked bad vibes, and whatever's done to the models, maybe it's done when they're walking the runway." He paused, his eyes flickering to her and away again. "So you know maybe it's-"

"Okay!"

Pete broke off mid-sentence, seemingly shocked at her interruption. "Okay? No fights? No arguments? No punching me in my soft spots?"

Myka laughed nervously, scoffing as she answered. "Well, like you said, it's dangerous…"

Pete wasn't being fooled. "Wait. No. No, no, no, no, no. You don't _ever _listen to me."

Myka opened her mouth, ready to give another excuse, but she cut it when she saw her partner's face. She looked down. "Okay. I can't." He looked at her in disbelief, so she hurried her explanation. "Cause I can't…stop an army, and I can't, you know…show people my soul."

Pete looked confused. Really confused. As in, more confused than usual (and that was saying something). "What-what are you talking about?"

Myka swallowed. "Look, some girls took fencing lessons," she paused, hating the trembling in her voice. "And read books, and became secret service agents. " She fingered the silken dress she was wearing. "And that- that out there, that is- that is not me."

Pete's expression switched from confused to exasperated. "Why not?"

Myka looked down, to the left, to the right, to the ceiling. Anywhere but her partner's eyes.

"Uhhh." She breathed. "Cause, you know…I'm not the pretty one."

Pete's expression grew more intense. "Who is the pretty one?"

Myka's eyes were glued to her $2000 shoes when she mumbled. "My sister."

Realization dawned in her partner's eyes. "Ahhhh…Tracy."

Myka looked up and braved meeting Pete's eyes. "Yeah. She was the cheerleader, and the homecoming queen…she was the one that all the boys were crazy about." She bit back the tears welling in her eyes. "She could do this."

Pete shook his head, and for a second Myka thought that he was agreeing, and her heart broke a little inside. Pete Lattimer, her own partner, didn't think she was good enough. But then he spoke.

"Alright. Turn around."

She was startled. "Why?"

He didn't meet her eyes. "Because if I'm going to say this to you, I can't say it with you looking at me."

"I'll…"Curiosity getting the better of her, she narrowed her eyes. "turn around."

She was looking at her reflection in the mirror, when she heard his chuckle. "I can't say it to the back of your head." Despite of herself, she laughed.

It was a moment before his voice sounded again. It was deep, deeper than normal, husky with emotion. Myka let it's soothing timbre wash over her, allowing her muscles to relax fractionally.

"Myka, you are a stunningly beautiful woman. The day I met you, I said "What? I'm not going to be able to work with her! I won't be able to stop staring at her!"" He laughed, but it sounded watery, like he was close to tears. "But then I got to know you," Myka braced for an insult to come, joking, lightening the mood of his serious words. "and I realized that you're even more beautiful than I could see." Her eyes both widened in shock and began to fill with tears. Pete continued. "And if that little teen fencer could see what a," He took a deep breath, and she mirrored it, her chest releasing the tension that it had built up in the last 15 minutes. "beautiful woman that she would become, she would know that it was her sister that should be jealous." He sniffled as he stopped talking.

Myka was shell shocked. Her womanizing, immature partner had just given one of the most romantic, kind speeches she had ever heard. And damn if her eyes weren't watering and her heart lurching, aching for more of his sweet words and soothing voice. _Damn him. This _can't _happen again._

She heard the sound of her partner spinning back around. "Good to go?"

She wiped at the corner of her eye, and twirled quickly to face him, trying to hide the motion.

She infused her voice with a new found energy. "Oh I'm good to go."

And she marched away, towards the runway and the catty models, ready for whatever was in store for her out there.

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><p><strong>And there ends chapter one. I'll upload the chapter two within the next hour.<strong>

**Oh, and to those of you who read Adjusting, yes, I am working on it. Yes, I did break my promise to be back two weeks ago. And yes, as a 'sorry-I-have-issues-with-deadlines' present, the next chapter will be awesome. Thanks for all the love in the meantime guys :)**

**And, as always, review :)**


	2. Pete

Pete waited outside the little changing-curtain-thingy for a few minutes before actually making an attempt to go in. "Hey Myka, are you decent?" He called, trying to sound half-hearted, as if he wasn't bursting to see "Myka the supermodel." It was a once in a life time opportunity. How many other chances would he have to see his partner, who was smoking hot without even trying, in full supermodel get up? Not many. Undercover ops were awesome.

"Can I come in?" He gave up his ruse. "You know what…screw it. I'm coming in."

There she was. Myka. His kick ass partner could make a button down shirt and slacks look hot, but this…this was incredible. His eyes roved her figure, taking in the loose silk dress, the incredible amount of skin it revealed, the dramatic makeup, the winding hairdo.

His uptight, bookworm partner was stunning. She was beyond beautiful, and in the small part of his brain that was still capable of coherent thought was pondering why the hell she would be in the secret service when she looked _so damn good._"Woah."

She whirled around, the plum colored silk swishing, and her eyes held a warning, and a sliver of something else. Was that…nervousness? His confident, bullheaded Myka, _nervous? _Nah. Must have been a trick of the light.

Her voice was low and dangerous. "Don't you _dare _laugh."

"No. No. I'm _so_not laughing." He paused, dragging his eyes away from her body to focus in on her eyes, before darting away again. "Listen, I don't want you to go out there. I'm having some wicked bad vibes, and whatever's done to the models, maybe it's done when they're walking the runway." He glanced back at the dress. The fact that she looked so lovely that the thought of any other person seeing her caused a near physical pain was just a bonus reason. "So you know, maybe it's-"

"Okay!" Myka jumped in, and this time he could tell. She definitely sounded nervous.

Something was up. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"Okay? No fights? No arguments? No punching me in my soft spots?"

She barked out a high-pitched, decidedly un-Myka-ish laugh, then scoffed in an obvious attempt to cover it up. "Well, like you said, it's…dangerous-"

Pete wasn't buying it. Not for one second. "Wait. No. No, no, no, no, no. You don't _ever_listen to me."

Myka opened her mouth, and it looked like another excuse was on the tip of her tongue when she caught his eye. She deflated slightly and sighed. "Okay. I can't." Pete just stared at her. What was she talking about, "can't." Was she seriously insinuating that she this, _goddess_of beauty, couldn't walk down a twenty foot stretch of lit-up floor? Myka caught his eye for a split second before her gaze darted away. "Cause I can't, stop an army, and I can't, you know…show people my soul."

_Was she joking? She couldn't honestly have let that bitch of a model get to her. Myka is better than that._

"What-what are you talking about?"

Myka swallowed, and her eyes were everywhere but his gaze. "Some girls, took fencing lessons," her voice trembled, as if she was close to tears. "And read books, and became secret service agents," she reached down to finger the ridiculously expensive dress. "And that, that out there? That is- that is not me."

Pete sighed. He had been afraid of this. "Why not?"

His partner drew in a shaky breath and looked up towards the ceiling. "Uhhh, cause, you know…" her voice lowered, and she mumbled her next words. "I'm not the pretty one."

Now it all made sense. Pete's insides burned at the thought of the ignorant jocks that had made his partner feel this way. But he pushed it down, labeling the feeling as protectiveness. Normal, everyday protectiveness for his normal everyday partner, who he didn't think was the most beautiful woman to ever walk the planet. Completely normal.

It took a second of wrestling with emotion before he could answer. "Ahhh…Tracy."

Myka looked so sad, so broken, and the only thing Pete could think of was how he just wanted to hold her until the pain went away. Her eyes met his.

"Yeah. She was the cheerleader, and the homecoming queen…she was the one that all the boys were crazy about." He hated that her eyes were filling with tears. "She could do this."

Unbelievable. It absolutely blew Pete's mind that anyone could think to make such a beautiful woman feel so insecure.

_Stupid jocks. Why couldn't they recognize what an amazing woman she would become?_

Pete mentally cringed. He knew what he had to do, but how could he do it without making him sound like he wasn't completely and irrevocably in love with her? Cause he wasn't. Nope. Not "Playboy" Pete Lattimer. Definitely not.

He just wouldn't look at her when he said it. Simple solution, right? Right. Good.

Dreading the confession he was about to make, he groaned internally and shook his head.

"Alright. Turn around."

Myka looked confused. Adorably confused. "Why?"

Pete could feel his face heating up, and he avoided her eyes. "Because if I'm going to say this to you, I can't say it with you looking at me."

"I'll…turn around."

And then he was staring at her back. Her beautiful, tanned back, that was left almost completely bare by the cut of the dress. Pete laughed at himself. He couldn't even look at her back without thinking about her in a completely indecent manner.

"I can't say it to the back of your head."

He turned to face the door to the backstage area, and took a deep breath to steady himself.

He had no idea how she would take this. Hopefully well. Not shooting him with the tesla or beating him up. That was about the best he could hope for.

"Myka, you are a stunningly beautiful woman," he said. "The day I met you, I said "What? I'm not going to be able to work with her! I won't be able to stop staring at her!"" He laughed, remembering the day that Dickenson had pointed her out to him, the new girl on the team fresh from Denver. "But then I got to know you, and I realized that you're even more beautiful than I could see." He thought back to two cases ago, when she became a superhero, saving them all (whilst looking totally badass and hotter than hell). He remembered the countless nights that they'd spent at the B&B, sometimes with Artie and Claudia and Leena, or sometimes just them and a pile of cookies. Pete Lattimer had seen (and been with) many gorgeous women over the course of his life, but Myka Bering surpassed them all.

"And if that little teen fencer could see what a," he breathed in deeply once more, and heard her do the same. "beautiful woman that she would become, she would know that it was her sister that should be jealous."

They were both quiet for a moment as his words settled in. When about thirty seconds had passed, and she hadn't pummeled him yet, he took it as a good sign.

"Good to go?"

She twirled around to face him, and that spark was back in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was infused with confidence. "Oh I'm good to go."

And then she strutted from the room. Pete really did need to ask her at some point why she wasn't a supermodel in the first place. "Alright, alright." He responded, a smile on his face.

Then something occurred to him. "Wait! I came here to talk you out if it! Myka!"

And as usual, Agent Pete Lattimer was left running after his partner.

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><p><strong>There we go, chapter two. I might write a third and final chapter later, but it depends on the response I get for this and how much time I have. <strong>

**Review!**


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